New Congress Brings New Voices for Arab Americans

If you read our post-election blog last week, you know that two new Arab Americans will join the House in January, nearly doubling our numbers in Congress. Going from three Congressmen to five may not seem like a big deal—after all, we’re talking about single digits here. But this brings the size of the Arab American caucus to its highest level in 8 years.

Joining Representatives Nick Rahall (D-WV), Darrell Issa (R-CA), and Charles Boustany (R-LA) are two new faces: State Representative Justin Amash (R-MI) and Richard Hanna (R-NY). Justin Amash has been a State Representatie for Michigan’s 72nd District since 2008 and was recently named one of TIME Magazine's "40 under 40 - Rising Stars of U.S. Politics." And on a side note, when you look at this article here, the first two featured individuals are both Arab American--Huma Abedin, an Arab American who is one of Hillary Clinton's senior advisors, followed by Justin Amash.

Amash is only the second Palestinian-American to serve in Congress -- Senator John E. Sununu being the first.

Richard Hanna, who was born in Utica and is of Arab descent, won a solid victory in this year’s midterm election after losing his bid for the seat in 2008 by just 2 percentage points. Earlier this year, Hanna was named as one of TIME Magazine’s top GOP candidates to watch in 2010.

We extend a warm welcome to all newly elected officials and a warm welcome back to all those who were recently reelected.

As always, it’s important to stay in touch with your representatives. If you need guidance or advice on how to set up a meeting with your representative, how to contact them, or how to arrange to host an elected official at a local event, please contact Nadia in our Government Relations Department at nfirozvi@aaiusa.org or by phone at 202-429-9210 ext.12.